Thanks gentsH.P. – hah! that’s been prime reference image for the seats all along, a rare view & perfect ref …giving me zero room for licence. I didn’t get the rear seat headrest quite right but the tilt might just conceal the oversize enough.

Brian – BLACK (see 29th May item 1) but no decision on pennant(s) yet - if nobody beats me to it I’ll do a bit more research when the car’s finished – probably the ceremonial final step to the sound of an oompah band.

Jerry & Cheyenne– too kind bros you’re both way ahead of me, & I’d never have thought of the seats solution if Susie hadn’t dropped that purse on the workbench with a soft thud.

So here's a bonus mini-toot for this weekend - after unearthing a spares boxes (from under the pile of packed-up stuff in the lock-up) I settled on this combo – hub from who knows what & after breaking the t*re the left-hand half was chucked, the right pared down…

Putty in my hands…

…I was feeling a little flat…

So clearly a bit more work on the tread pattern required (& my chrome-strip screw holes need un-dilating or whatever the word is) but that’ll do, it was getting…tiresome? OK nurse increase the medication

Rise of the Lurkers! Nice to hear from you guys & thanks for the encouragement. If this build was a day-stage of the Giro or Tour it’s been a relatively level/cruisy/scenic 60 or 70 kms so far. But just since last posting the gradient’s shot up to 8+%, partly because the dashboard’s a pig, the steering column don’t fit (a ah rare beef with ICM about the basic kit), and also because there are conflicting priorities looming between spraying un-assembled vs. assembled component parts gloss black & the necessary assembly order. Risks comprise finger-prints, dulled areas, glue-bleeds, intricate masking of fragile parts, hairline gaps between adjoining panels (e.g. doors, hood etc) getting clogged. I foresee an imminent investment in surgical gloves & upping the anaesthetic stocks.

Thanks Jerry, we can but hope. Interesting exercise when there’s zero wiggle-room - make something one day & think hey that’s real close, look at it the next day & What the heck!?? how did I get that so wrong? Let’s call It the Yesterday Syndrome – 1st verse lyrics only!

I considered replicating the dashboard in its original material, following on from metal panels & leather seats, but carpentry’s not my strongest suit so…

The kit’s dashboard is actually reasonable (spot my dumb error, later corrected) but the decal sheet not so much (impressionist dials in yellow) – so I got DioArt’s dial set express. They’re generic in transparent positive & negative formats & the detail’s excellent…

1:1 target in the background & the prepared dash below. I was expecting the dials to be decals or adhesive-backed - nope, just plain acetate and no aids to cutting them out. I didn’t have the right tools (hole-cutters, tubes with razor sharp ends) so it was a case of brand-new blade, magnifier & patience…

…the 3 dials needed 5 components from the sheet, sealed with a blob of PVA/Elmers on each face…

Hard to get non-reflecting views at this magnification, this is the only shot of the finished item worth showing. It’s not perfect but the best I can do…

The wheel got slimmed as much as possible & I scratched what I assume is the indicator stalk immediately behind the left side of it (sorry totally invisible here) and also the black collar glued behind the dash. I gave up trying to connect the column to the steering linkage, it was never going to fit so I just chopped it short as it’ll never be seen.

The collar for the column has another purpose, guiding the rod to the hole in the firewall at the right angle and allowing some play, so therefore I don’t have to glue the rod at all. Past experience of trying to wrestle driver-figures into place reminded me it’s a boon to be able to take out the steering wheel (and/or the whole column) & also adjust its forward/back position slightly. For the same reason the driver’s seat ain’t seeing cement either ‘till the fat lady sings.

Next time – The Windscreen, or how to convert a swear-box into a Ferrari. Runs on profane gas.

The dash is looking great. Making it in wood would be challenging,mostly because any wood grain in that scale would be gigantically over sized. Painting the grain onto plastic is the best scale solution. Yours' looks great dude. Onward and upward,J

Thanks gentsH.P. – hah! that’s been prime reference image for the seats all along, a rare view & perfect ref …giving me zero room for licence. I didn’t get the rear seat headrest quite right but the tilt might just conceal the oversize enough.

Brian – BLACK (see 29th May item 1) but no decision on pennant(s) yet - if nobody beats me to it I’ll do a bit more research when the car’s finished – probably the ceremonial final step to the sound of an oompah band.

Jerry & Cheyenne– too kind bros you’re both way ahead of me, & I’d never have thought of the seats solution if Susie hadn’t dropped that purse on the workbench with a soft thud.

So here's a bonus mini-toot for this weekend - after unearthing a spares boxes (from under the pile of packed-up stuff in the lock-up) I settled on this combo – hub from who knows what & after breaking the t*re the left-hand half was chucked, the right pared down…

Putty in my hands…

…I was feeling a little flat…

So clearly a bit more work on the tread pattern required (& my chrome-strip screw holes need un-dilating or whatever the word is) but that’ll do, it was getting…tiresome? OK nurse increase the medication

Damn! Despite all the evidence I was still holding out for some shade of green for the vehicle; as for pennants - there must have been something - if not for the man's ego viz "I am your Lord and Master - look on it and despair" or something similar (!)

Keep it up Tim, 'looking so forward to the figures especially Heydrich (who, let's face it, had it coming).

I don't know if it was mentioned earlier - I am now too idle to re-read the threads - but it was mooted in some accounts that the grenade (No 73 type?) thrown was in fact doctored by the British with a biological agent to ensure his demise. Perfidious Albion yet again perhaps, but the fact was that Heydrich was simply too dangerous - and good at what he did - to be permitted to live.

I don't know if it was mentioned earlier - I am now too idle to re-read the threads - but it was mooted in some accounts that the grenade (No 73 type?) thrown was in fact doctored by the British with a biological agent to ensure his demise. Perfidious Albion yet again perhaps, but the fact was that Heydrich was simply too dangerous - and good at what he did - to be permitted to live.

Hmmm. Jury's still out I suppose. If this was indeed the modus operandi, it is of course highly likely that the SOE agents concerned would not have been told of any modification, but merely issued with (whatever number it was) of the grenades and told to get on with it.

If the grenade was contaminated then it just shows how determined the British (and the Czechs) were to ensure Heydrich's demise.

Jerry – it sure was first & last resort going with the plastic so if you think it looks OK that’s good enough for me.

Brian – yes possibly a custom pennant i.e. specific to “Protector” of Czechoslovakia, one or more of those motorcade pics Frenchy posted might show it. I’ve no idea what the protocols were, maybe it was just SS rank? From what I can see there was only one pennant-holder on the passenger wing, the Notek’s on the driver’s wing.

As for figures, I had it in mind to post a request on the Figures forum soon for suggestions for the Heydrich figure. Apart from being 6ft 4” he had a distinctive hatchet face & I’m hoping a Hornet-head or similar expert might know of a reasonable likeness on the market - and also any figures wearing the correct SS Obergruppenfuhrer uniform - and the Oberscharfuhrer driver’s too. Sitting or standing doesn’t matter, I’ll be Frankenverting them. As you’ve raised it now I might as well start here, all contributions gratefully received.

About the bio-toxin story - I’m sorry to report that (according to MacDonald op cit p.277) it was none other than Robert Harris & Jeremy Paxman (“A Higher Form of Killing” 1982 pp 88-94) who claimed Porton Down provided a nerve-agent for the grenades. MacDonald: “Their general account of the assassination is riddled with inaccuracies…no documentary evidence presented (for the toxin claim)…A moment’s thought indicates the absurdity of Kubis risking a night drop from an aircraft carrying lethal biological toxins and then transporting them round the Protectorate for the next five months. Moreover, Kubis was hit by splinters from his own bomb but he did not die as a result.”

Indeed Kubis died in the Cathedral shoot-out three weeks later, apparently well enough to put a gun to his own head & photos of his corpse show those shrapnel wounds round his left eye. While MacDonald was calling the kettle black a bit regarding inaccuracies, I think he was more accurate than most. I’d add that the senior German doctors attending Heydrich were likely to be capable of identifying the difference between the actual symptoms of bacterial infection/blood poisoning and an unknown/mystery pathology causing (presumably) paralysis, coma etc along the lines of what happened to the Skripals in Salisbury UK recently. Heydrich was sitting up in bed eating breakfast hours before he died, a week after incurring the injury.

Re Heydrich figure: a glance at a somewhat out of date Hornet Head catalogue indicates that HH/34 might fit the bill: "5 Heads with aquiline features". His nose was quite pronounced and the first image shown might just suit. You'd still have to add on a peaked cap perhaps but the features might just work. The 3rd image of this set has a head with mouth open - which might be relevant if you're being shot at/blown up - and might also work but the head may not be suitably "Heydrich-y" enough. It would be hard to tell unless you get the actual item in your hand.

"HGH/11 5 Heads German Officer Formal Peaked Caps" might also suit but devoid of any real Heydrich feature, although the 3rd figure shown (from the left) does have some expression in that his mouth is open but looks tad cheerful, and the 4th figure in has his cap on at an angle and looks suitably arrogant.

However, perhaps a figure with a relatively calm disposition would work: I recall that Heydrich was shot down in a fighter plane behind Russian lines so being attacked on your way to work might be something he could deal with - apart from the presumably searing agony when the bomb exploded perhaps?

I'm sure the catalogue is online somewhere; as I say my (hard copy) is quite old but hopefully they'll still be around.

Re the No 73 Grenade: I would just reinforce that if these grenades were modified the soldiers would not necessarily have known about it; it would, in all likelihood, have been simply a case of their being issued with the weapons and equipment on the lines of " Grenades, No 73, for the use of, times 2 - sign here" in typical British QM fashion. Even if they were doctored the grenade would have been a robust sealed container and would only require fusing (like all grenades) to be suitably lethal. The pathogen would have been added to the explosive filling and the owner would have no need to know that it was doubly lethal.

However, I take your point: for German doctors not to have been able to recognise such symptoms would I think, be extremely rare. I suppose I just hoped for confirmation that we sneaky Brits could prevail whatever the circumstances (!)

Anyway, although with no images I hope the pointers re the Hornet Heads helps.

Many thanks Brian that’s very helpful. Yes re HH/34 with slightly slittier eyes & thinner lips the 1st & 4th look promising, and the 3rd for the explosion. With HGH11 I’d say the 4th & 5th are the most promising. I guess this is in turn presses me to settle on how many images in the narrative there will be…and if I can get away with the same face/head from one or more different angles. The half-scale dio led to a provisional count of around 30 images, obviously not all including Heydrich but he’ll appear in at least 20 of them. So…I really need all 10 heads minimum, the less promising ones could still work in profile/turned away with some work on the nose(s). How many bodies? He sits, he stands, he gets hit, he gets out the car, he aims his empty pistol, he staggers, he collapses, he gets carried to a van...that’s 8 so I should make the heads & bodies interchangeable to mix it up. Shame they never made Action Man in 1/35th. Then there’s Klein…Gabcik…Kubis…I think I just aged a couple of years.

But a lot of cement’s got to flow under the workbench before I get into the figures – if I can overcome current windscreen difficulties & make the car look acceptable the trams are next on the schedule. All I know for sure right now is I don’t want the same pose/face in more than one image. Otherwise it might look like a diorama

Thanks guys, looks like a consensus on the pennant. One question – in my imperfect visual memory I think I’ve seen that one with gold/yellow trim round the edge somewhere? The link diagrams stop at the black border but in the photo there’s something round that. Opinions?

And so to the gnarliest item of all - this ICM kit is a basic military sedan version of the Type 320 so the windscreen was simply an opening between the body and roof, with just a slab of clear plastic to fill it. But the convertible had a windscreen frame & what a ffffframe it is - gull-wing in plan section, each of the two panes not only curved downwards on one axis towards the side of the car from the centre but also concave about the other axis. And each panel is slightly swept back from the centre-line. And the whole frame is swept back from the vertical. And I had a serious headache.

I estimated the dimensions from photos and drew some trial paper/card templates, hitting the wall early when it dawned that I’d have to paint the frame chrome, the body it was attached to gloss black, and the glass none of the above. So it needed to be all detachable because it would likely be too fragile to mask. As if that wasn’t enough, looking at the crime-scene photos I noticed (for the first time) that Heydrich’s windscreen frame was open - a knob on the dashboard allowed the pane to open a few inches along its bottom edge for ventilation. I wasn’t at all sure how to replicate this monster - even if my railroad mate helped me CAD it for 3D printing I wasn’t convinced I could get it sharp enough.

So I fiddled with brass, heavy-gauge foil & wire because creating a strong rigid structure seemed to be essential, but with no micro-soldering skills I soon gave up on that idea. Climbing back out of the Slough of Despond I fell into, all that remained were the default materials - Evergreen styrene sheets, angle-strips, plain strips & rods. I’ll pass over the 4 day construction phase because the nightmares will probably recur if I describe it, but there was a silver (or chrome) lining - my initial concept that the frame had to be rigid was dead wrong, flexibility turned out to be key.

Discarding the acetate I usually use for glass because it refused to hold a curve, I opted for a blind purchase & got lucky – it’s perfect. The frame was made so it can accept the driver’s-side screen slid into it post-painting, shown below half inserted…

...and leaning at the wrong angle in approximate situ with a clear panel for support…

I hope to resolve the painting vs assembly issues by masking the hood across the lip where the frame gets glued, spraying gloss black, chrome-ing the frame & gluing it down, and lastly inserting the glass. The passenger-side open pane is a separate assembly which can then be cemented to the frame.

Next time: No place like Chrome - Bare-Metal foil has been seriously disappointing even when following the (lengthy) instructions to the letter, trials continue. Meanwhile here’s the K&S clear plastic in damaged mode - the pane’s too tall & not sagging enough yet, just testing how the scratching looks under lights…

There is a product on the market called "Liquid Chrome" which comes as a pen with varying nib sizes; it's made by Molotow and I procured mine off Amazon, but of course, there could be other stockists around.

This might be the answer to your chrome problems. I bought mine some time ago for - funnily enough - a not dissimilar staff car project (Jaguar 420) - which is black with chrome bits, and this has certainly passed troop trials so far.

I think you can even decant the contents and apply by brush, or even buy refills and presumably spray, but I'm out of my comfort zone regarding all the possibilities of this product.

There is a product on the market called "Liquid Chrome" which comes as a pen with varying nib sizes; it's made by Molotow and I procured mine off Amazon, but of course, there could be other stockists around.

This might be the answer to your chrome problems. I bought mine some time ago for - funnily enough - a not dissimilar staff car project (Jaguar 420) - which is black with chrome bits, and this has certainly passed troop trials so far.

I think you can even decant the contents and apply by brush, or even buy refills and presumably spray, but I'm out of my comfort zone regarding all the possibilities of this product.

Anyway, it might help.

Brian

I agree, the Molotow paint pens are excellent. They come in two sizes. However, they can leave streaks when doing larger areas. I've found Alclad Chrome over gloss black works best for polished chrome surfaces. The only problem with Alclad is it needs to be sprayed over a totally "clean" surface that has no underlying flaws, or it will pick up every flaw and magnify it, so for small surfaces like the windshield frame, I'd use the Molotow pens-- you won't be dissappointed.VR, Russ

All of the scratchbuilt items are brilliant of course but I hafta say on the side window pane,the third line of shattered striations does not match the original pic you showed !! Better step up your game man ! Hahahahahaa

Many thanks Brian & Russ, I’d completely forgotten about Molotow – somebody mentioned it in the (?) Painting/Weathering forum sometime last year when I had little interest. By chance the only (listed) retailer in Sydney is on the same street as a silicon mo*lds supplier I was intending to visit this week so watch this space – looks like the perfect answer to my problem.

Thanks Jerry, I’m a broken man now – shattered - but it was your turn to crack me up after all. I raise my glass of shard-onnay, cheers

Many thanks Brian & Russ, I’d completely forgotten about Molotow – somebody mentioned it in the (?) Painting/Weathering forum sometime last year when I had little interest. By chance the only (listed) retailer in Sydney is on the same street as a silicon mo*lds supplier I was intending to visit this week so watch this space – looks like the perfect answer to my problem.

Thanks Jerry, I’m a broken man now – shattered - but it was your turn to crack me up after all. I raise my glass of shard-onnay, cheers